San Antonio Spurs: Where Does Kyle Anderson Fit As A Rookie?

If there were ever a franchise that has become notorious for molding practically any average role player into a crucial piece of basketball’s most well oiled winning machine, it’s Gregg Popovich and his San Antonio Spurs. Eventually, the same will be true for their first round pick from the 2014 draft, Kyle Anderson, but as of now, he doesn’t exactly have a solid NBA niche heading into his rookie season.

That said, where exactly does Anderson fit on a roster led by future Hall of Famers looking to repeat as NBA champions?

Although he’s listed as a shooting guard, it’s highly unlikely to say the least that Anderson will ever see any real minutes outside of closing duties. Anderson would have to fight for minutes over Danny Green, Manu Ginobili off the bench, Marco Belinelli and even Patrick Mills.

That’s four guys who have all established themselves as scoring threats and have proven their worth to Popovich. With so many other viable options for the Spurs, don’t expect Anderson to gain from experience on the wing as a shooter in 2014-15 unless it’s during cleanup minutes, but even then, he would fit better elsewhere on the court.

As for his original position at UCLA as a point guard, sometime down the road if he were to remain with the Spurs, minutes might become available. Unfortunately for Anderson, there’s also some congestion at point guard. It’s a given that Tony Parker is going to see his 28-30 minutes per game. Then you have to factor in the minutes split betweenMills and Cory Joseph, who both can come in and make plays off the bench.

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As I mentioned, somewhere down the road, Anderson could eventually see worthwhile minutes as a backup point guard with his well-documented ability to run the show as a floor general, but until he can prove he’s able to have the athleticism to survive as a professional, it’s unlikely Popovich will thrown him some unearned minutes with such a deep roster.

But there is a place for Anderson and his unorthodox play style in a role that will allow him to adapt to the NBA game with little pressure to perform right out of the gates.. Anderson adapted to the point forward role during his time at UCLA and flourished as a facilitator with 6.5 assists per game to compliment his 14.6 points per contest. At times, he was doing so by playing out of the high-post or off the ball.

Outside of Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs don’t exactly have a backup small forward who has etched his name into the metaphorical stone rotation.

This leaves a world of opportunity for Anderson to come in at a position that won’t expose his un-athletic nature as much as a point guard and shooting guard would offensively, although he will get eaten alive defensively by practically anybody with a decent offensive arsenal.

But as for what he can do, much like Boris Diaw flourishes on fluidity and smoothness, so will Anderson as he can come in and knock down some open threes and throw a few assists around in hopes of not allowing Popovich’s stare to get much meaner.

Anderson has the ability to attack the basket and score from the wing, in addition to shooting over smaller defenders. Where the problem occurs is with the size and skill of NBA forwards being much greater than anything Anderson has experienced. A majority of his looks in college will have a sealed door on them in the NBA.

For Anderson, this means he will have to accept a very minute roll entering the league and being with what he can do as a three-point shooter and solid facilitator.

But could you imagine the things Popovich will be able to do with Anderson long-term due to his overall well roundedness? Although he doesn’t excel at any one thing, Anderson is skilled in a large variety of ways that will surely be developed during his time under one of the greatest coaches in history. But for Anderson, it’s all about baby steps and that’s what his first season with a limited roll on the perimeter will be.